Poverty, Planning & Politics

New Forum is Live!

2010-07-06T23:15:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to draw attention to the fact that I set up a little free forum and connected it to the blog so that people can post their thoughts and discuss topics with anyone who cares to listen. I can guarantee, at least, that I will read your posts and respond to your ponderings, so don't feel too lonely on the big empty forum.

The link is on the top menu bar next to "Home" and "Books to Read." It's also about one or two millimeters above, and then roughly three or so inches, depending on your monitor and resolution, to the left from the "Search the Blog" heading on the right-hand side of the screen. Otherwise, you can locate the forum link by finding the thinnest point of that squiggly design on the left-hand side of the screen, and shooting straight to the right - you can't miss it.

Or, if you're not fond of top menu bars, and you much prefer embedded links, then you can access the forum here.

Happy posting!

- David

Obama Administration Released their "Opening Doors" Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness

2010-06-23T23:24:00.005-04:00

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), which is comprised of 19 different member agencies including federal departments, offices and corporations, just released "Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness 2010." The strategic plan was released yesterday, and can be read here.

The stated goals of the strategic plan are to end chronic homelessness and homelessness among veterans in five years, to prevent and end homelessness for families and children in ten years, and to set a path toward ending all types of homelessness. The goals laid out in this strategic plan are definitely ambitious, and the federal government acknowledges that it will need the support of state and local governments and organizations in order to accomplish them.

The strategic plan was created with what appears to have been much careful thought and deliberation, with myriad sources and experts called upon to support the plan's claims and guide their action. I was particularly happy that a lot of the macroeconomic and cost-effectiveness arguments were brought to the table.

Because helping to end homelessness is chiefly about improving peoples' quality of life, many people who devalue public policy aimed at ending homelessness seem to assume that these efforts will help a few at the cost of many others. And though I'm sure advocates of this viewpoint were thinking about Googling information to support their claim at one point, and probably spent an entire three to four seconds thinking up their brilliant correlation, this is not the case. Quite the contrary, it makes no economic sense to leave the poorest members of our population without an economic safety net or productive outlet for personal economic growth.

The Opening Doors strategic plan lays out some of the basics to show how the country could save millions of wasted dollars by investing money more intelligently - and help the poorest members of our society at the same time. Instead of allowing local municipalities to collectively waste millions upon millions of public dollars on idiotic campaigns to criminalize the homeless or compete with each other through fiscal mercantilistic transportation, utility and service provisions (which lead to high investment costs, low payout, and millions of wasted tax dollars), we could invest in sustainable low-income housing, local community development loan agencies, job training programs, youth centers, metropolitan-level planning agencies, micro-level economically incentivized development zoning for empty areas of the city long forgotten since the era of urban renewal, and a host of other methods, but you get the point.

A few examples of how it costs more money to ignore the problem of homelessness than it would to do something about it are provided by the Obama administration's USICH within this report. For instance, the graph above (click for a larger view) shows the average costs of serving homeless individuals in a variety of ways, according to data gathered from many metropolitan areas across the country.

It's important to note other facts brought up throughout the plan to understand the full implications of this graph, such as that homeless individuals are much more likely to wind up in the emergency room, or a hospital in general, than other low-income housed individuals. Also, the high cost of jail compared to supportive housing is important to note for obvious reasons, debunking half-assed theories conjured up by city officials who thought it'd be a good idea to pass laws making it illegal to block sidewalks, set up tents in public, or sleep in parks.

As far as the actual plan goes, the strategies recommended by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness are split up to pursue ten overarching objectives. These include the following:

Promote collaborative leadership
Strengthen capacity and knowledge
Provide affordable housing
Provide permanent supportive housing
Increase economic security
Reduce financial vulnerability
Integrate health care with housing
Advance health and housing stability for youth
Advance health and housing stability for adults
Transform crisis response systems

The plan then goes on to explain each of the objectives in more detail. Each objective's section includes in-depth descriptions of the logic behind the objective, the strategies to be applied in order to meet these objectives, and, where applicable, explanations of initiatives that are currently underway or soon-to-be underway to bring the country closer to meeting these objectives, along with any recommendations for future actions that other entities could take in improving the effectiveness of these initiatives.

Afterwards, the plan describes in further detail what steps have to be taken by each federal department and office in order to turn these objectives into realities. The plan also includes descriptions of more key initiatives along with a road-map toward successful implementation (and post-implementation analysis).

Overall, the plan is ambitious, confident in the nation's increased level of scholarship and knowledge on the topic of homelessness, and careful in crafting a meaningful and effective path towards an economically sensible America. Everyone deserves a home, and for the love of the flying spaghetti monster, public officials need to wake up, stop worrying about Guam capsizing or creating armed Tea Party insurrections, and realize that they hurt everyone economically when they hurt the homeless (if the morality of the issue isn't enough of a reason for them).

Thanks for reading.

- David

Call For Outrageous Criminalization of Homelessness Stories

2010-06-13T23:10:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, I have a bit of a special request here for everybody reading. I know that across the country, there are many laws specially designed to discourage homeless people from simply living within municipal borders. Laws that criminalize actions such as sleeping in public, setting up tents under highways, and even laws that make it illegal for a person to feed homeless individuals. There are also cases where the police will target homeless people when enforcing laws such as loitering, jaywalking and other crimes that are hardly ever accounted for when it comes to anyone else.

A lot of practices such as these may go on because homeless people are viewed as a nuisance, and because that outlook is a lot simpler than having to face the truth and admit that the structure of our economic system is inherently flawed, and in need of careful and detailed change.

We occasionally see stories in the newspaper or online of homeless people being treated as if they weren't human, as if it was against the American moral and legal code to be without a home, and that this was their fault. But stories like this seldom receive enough attention to make the news. In conversations with homeless individuals, activists, and even classmates, I heard several stories from people who had witnessed homeless people being harassed by the police, kicked out of their homes, or leaving behind and losing all of their belongings on the street once they were arrested.

I want to hear about the instances in which homeless individuals and families have been criminalized in your city. Not everything makes the news, but now it can! If you consider a blog with a handful of regular viewers news... Stories that are sent in to me from readers across the country (or across the world!) who have witnessed or otherwise know about homeless people being treated unfairly in their communities will be posted on the blog periodically for everyone to read. Small steps like this towards public awareness can make a big difference in long-term public policy outcomes, so send in those stories!

You can send your stories to me by sending an e-mail to davidboston88@gmail.com.

As always, thank you for reading.

- David

Food for Donations at New Panera Bread

2010-05-28T16:53:00.001-04:00

In a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri called Clayton, Panera Bread just opened up a new store that runs completely off of donations from its customers. The motto over the counter says “Take what you need, leave your fair share." It seems like a pretty ambitious project. The hope is that while poorer customers will be able to access new food options while leaving what they can, the wealthier clientele will be able to leave a little more money to keep this social experiment in business.

This kind of project has great potential to help alleviate poverty by offering more substantial, healthy meals to poor families who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them. And if it were to spread, then crime would no longer be the alternative to hunger in many cases. People would always be able to eat whether they were low on cash or not.

But, if this experiment spread to other stores and services, how far would the generosity of the wealthy spread with it, when it is a model based purely on the goodness of others? Would people who have always lived so easily be willing to start spending more on everything, or is their generosity limited to the occasional stop at Panera because it makes them feel good about themselves without having to face the reality of how extensive poverty in our country really is? Just how far can this model expand?

The new bakery is called “St. Louis Bread Company Cares,” based off of Panera Bread’s original name, which they still go by in their hometown of St. Louis. However, the experiment isn’t being funded by Panera Bread, really. The company’s nonprofit foundation is covering the operating costs, and if the project fails, the foundation will absorb the costs. But if the trial succeeds, Panera Bread will be expanding this “pay what you can afford” model to communities all over the country.

It seems as though the first of these stores was set up in Clayton after much thought and deliberation, as it is a community with a high percentage of people capable of giving back a little more. The suburbs of Clayton are no ghetto. But if the experiment were expanded to areas where there are more people in need than there are people capable of giving more, would it be able to sustain itself? And will it even be able to sustain itself in the rich suburbs of Clayton, where people can most certainly afford to help those in need, if they wanted to?

According to Denise Cerreta, the founder of a similar restaurant that has been able to stay afloat since 2003, “ultimately people are good.” I guess if Panera expands this experiment and funds restaurants like this one all over the country, we’ll see just how good people are. I hope Cerreta is right.

Thanks for reading. The photos above were provided by Lisa Watson of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.

- David

Enterprise Green Communities

2010-05-27T20:14:00.000-04:00

Going green and affordable housing have been two practically contradicting terms for way too long. This group, called Enterprise Community Partners, have developed a list of criteria necessary to build affordable, green housing, and they finance developers willing to build according to these standards.

To strengthen these criteria, Enterprise conducted a study and found that developments built according to their standards cost 2.1% more in upfront development costs. But these developments pay for that and more in the long-run because of the way they are built, due to long-term operating cost savings.

When affordable housing developments are built green, they also provide health, economic, and obvious environmental benefits as well. To bring these benefits to low-income residents, Enterprise breaks their criteria into eight categories: (1) integrated design, (2) location and neighborhood fabric, (3) site improvements, (4) water conservation, (5) energy efficiency, (6) building materials beneficial to the environment, (7) healthy living environment, and (8) operations and maintenance.

If you’d like to learn more about specific findings, you can check out the abridged version of their detailed report.

Every donation helps to finance more low-income housing units built in a sustainable, energy-efficient and healthy way, and if there’s one thing we know it’s that there aren’t enough low-income housing units in America for families going through hard times right now. To donate, please go to my donation page!

And if you need any other reason to donate besides helping needy families move into much-needed housing or my eternal thanks and appreciation, for every donation of exactly $9.00 you get entered into a chance to win an Apple Macbook Pro.

Cool, huh?

Thanks everyone.

- David

Discretionary Authority of Local Governments

2009-07-30T17:14:00.002-04:00

Since most urban planners work for cities or regional planning authorities, it is important to understand how much discretionary authority a municipality has in relation to their state legislature. You can figure out roughly how much discretionary authority your municipality has by paying attention to four different factors, courtesy of Joseph Zimmerman and weighed by importance by David Miller. Keep in mind that these factors usually vary more from state to state, not from municipality to municipality within the same state.

The following factors are listed in order of importance when determining discretionary authority of a local government:

Finance: the degree to which a local government can raise revenues necessary to support the functions it has decided to undertake.
Function: the ability of a local government to choose activities or functions it wishes to undertake.
Personnel: the ability of a local government to regulate and determine the makeup and responsibilities of its workforce.
Structure: the degree to which a local government can define its own organizational structure.

Keep in mind that a high level of discretionary authority held by local governments is not necessarily good or bad by itself. It is simply a way of measuring where the power lies. The things that can be viewed as either good or bad are the actions which either the state or municipal government decide to take with that previously mentioned power.

Thanks for reading.

- David

Planning Today: NYC Offers Homeless Families a Way Out

2009-07-29T21:59:00.004-04:00

Though I have been critical of some of Mayor Bloomberg's other methods of reducing homelessness, it looks like this program is quite helpful, albeit small. Though the program is just recently enjoying attention from the media, homeless families in New York have been able to use this program as a way of leaving the city since 2007.

The way that it works is the city employs a local travel agency to book one-way domestic tickets (the Department of Homeless Services handles international tickets) for homeless people in the city to go wherever they have family willing to support them, if they want to, and the city pays for the tickets.

Local social workers help to let people know about this program and their option to move if they so desire. If a social worker confirms that the homeless individual or family has family willing to support them elsewhere, they can then go and have their one-way travel expenses paid for by the city.

This plan would work nicely in many areas, because many people who are homeless while living in a metropolitan poverty pocket may not stay that way for long in an environment with more opportunities for self-improvement or for work. But this plan is especially effective in a city like New York.

New York is a city that many people think of when trying to decide on a destination to start a new life. That's the city that people go to when they want to move out of their small town and make it big. But, life in New York City turns out to be a lot different from this glamorous version of the city that people normally think of. And many people end up finding out the hard way without having enough money set aside to make the return trip home.

Also, did I mention that the city ends up saving a lot of money by paying for one-way tickets to a family member as opposed to the upkeep cost per family in a NYC shelter?

Thanks for reading.

- David

Planning Today: Atlanta Jumps the Gun on Demolition

2009-07-28T16:14:00.009-04:00

Atlanta is expected to finish tearing down the last of its large-scale public housing projects by June of next year. These plans are meant to help poor residents by deconcentrating poverty, and Section 8 vouchers are given to most of the evicted residents so that they may find subsidized housing through a private landlord who accepts Section 8.

A little less than half of the public housing units that are torn down are being replaced by traditional public housing, while some of the rest is being replaced by subsidized houses and apartments that require higher income and by market-rate homes.

This mixed-income development is good for the reduction of poverty on a large scale because it aids the creation of social capital, particularly through high-yield weak ties (casual relationships with people from completely different social circles), it stems the formation of concentrated metropolitan poverty pockets, and it brings cost-saving businesses and jobs to the area.

However, if this is truly going to be a project that helps those living in poverty, the Atlanta Housing Authority has to make sure that enough affordable housing is available to keep people off the streets after they are evicted. According to a Georgia Tech 2007 study, only about one-third of evicted residents of demolished Atlanta public housing are able to resettle into the new developments. That leaves two-thirds of the residents to rely on Section 8 vouchers. A Section 8 voucher doesn't do you any good if there aren't enough affordable privately owned housing developments that accept Section 8 nearby for you to move to.

Apparently, the Atlanta Housing Authority has been and is in the process of offering incentives to coax more privately owned housing developments to accept Section 8 vouchers, but making sure that there were enough establishments accepting Section 8 should have been something that happened before peoples' homes were demolished, not after.

Thanks for reading.

- David

Planning Today: Public Spaces in the City

2009-07-27T21:55:00.004-04:00

The ideal layout of cities is an important topic that has spawned much debate. One side argues that cars should be the main method of transportation in a densely populated urban area, and that the car should be reinforced by planning departments through the development of more highways and parking spaces. The other side argues that mass transportation should become the new main method of transportation in a densely populated area, and that planning departments should invest in a mix of public transportation and pedestrian-friendly areas in order to achieve this.

I'm personally on the side of investing in public transportation and pedestrian-friendly areas for several reasons. Public transportation is an option for many people who cannot afford to buy, maintain, and purchase gas for their own car, especially in a densely populated area with a lot of traffic congestion. Plus, less cars running idle in downtown traffic is always better for the environment and for public health in the city. I'm not saying let's get rid of our cars. I'm just saying that cars are, quite frankly, a stupid way to move through the most densely populated and congested areas in the world - our inner cities.

Pedestrian-friendly areas have their perks as well. They create social capital in communities that are starving for friendly social interaction. They make moving from place to place much easier for people living in the city, which improves the economic vitality of the area. Not every small business has to pay for space to separately cater to the parking needs of their customers. And when these areas replace congested roads, they are a big improvement to both the environment and the public health.

I've included two short clips below that really touch on this subject. The first is about an organization called Rebar that brings public spaces to urban areas in San Francisco by turning parking spaces into temporary parks to be used by passing pedestrians. The second is an even shorter video about a public space created in Brooklyn by the NYC Department of Transportation and the Metro Tech Business Improvement District.

Thanks for reading.

- David

Thank You for Your Contributions

2009-07-26T00:18:00.003-04:00

I wanted to take the time today to thank all of the professors who have corresponded with me through e-mail in order to share their knowledge and improve this website.

Dr. Asha Agrawal from San José State University

Dr. Victoria Basolo from the University of California, Irvine

Dr. Arthur Blaustein from the University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Marlon Boarnet from the University of California, Irvine

Dr. Karen Chapple from the University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Stephen Commins from the University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Christopher Coutts from Florida State University

Dr. Julianna Delgado from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Dr. Harley Etienne from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Fred Etzel from the University of California, Berkeley

Dr. David Feldman from the University of California, Irvine

Dr. Peter Gordan from the University of Southern California

Dr. Richard Green from the University of Southern California

Dr. Al Guttenberg from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Gilda Haas from the University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Andrew Isserman from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Martin Jaffe from the University of Illinois at Chicago

Dr. Joochul Kim from Arizona State University

Dr. Martin Krieger from the University of Southern California

Dr. Kristin Larsen from the University of Florida

Dr. Yanmei Li from Florida Atlantic University

Dr. Jeremy Németh from the University of Colorado, Denver

Dr. Rob Olshansky from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Dr. Asli Oner from Florida Atlantic University

Dr. John Pittari Jr. from Auburn University

Dr. Harry Richardson from the University of Southern California

Dr. Gerardo Sandoval from Iowa State University

Dr. David Sawicki from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Lisa Schweitzer from the University of Southern California

Dr. Bruce Stiftel from the Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Dan Stokels from the University of California, Irvine

Dr. Brian Taylor from the University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Willem van Vliet from the University of Colorado at Boulder

Dr. Pamela Wridt from the University of Colorado, Denver

Thank you all very much for your knowledge and insight. I will continue to rely on the generous amount of information that you have shared with me in future posts.

- David

People in Planning: Daniel Burnham

2009-07-24T23:39:00.005-04:00

Daniel Burnham was and remains a very influential figure in the planning fields. An architect and urban planner, Daniel Burnham was the first American planner to take the control of future growth into account by drafting and publishing a comprehensive plan in 1909.

This comprehensive plan was "The Plan of Chicago," and within this plan Daniel Burnham stated that every citizen should be within walking distance of a park. He also included many French-inspired elements within the plan to make Chicago more of a "Paris on the Prairie."

And though Burnham was raised in Chicago, he didn't limit his planning talent to the confines of his hometown. Daniel Burnham also later created comprehensive plans for Cleveland, Washington DC, San Francisco and two cities in the Philippines: Manila and Baguio.

One particular quote from Daniel Burnham has been adopted by many urban planners across the United States and beyond:

"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized."

This quote is a great one for reminding ourselves not to become complacent with the way things are. If we truly want to make a difference in this world, especially from the position of urban planners, we have to remember to spend the time to prepare and put forward big plans. If there is something wrong with the system, don't tweak it. Change it.

Thanks for reading.

- David

President Obama Talks About Urban Policy

2009-07-23T00:52:00.002-04:00

I have to say I like what I heard. A lot of people might not enjoy our President's speech as much since it is addressed to a room full of urban policy heads instead of one of his speeches to the public, but to someone interested in urban planning this speech was refreshing. He touches on several very major issues in urban planning such as addressing problems on a metropolitan level instead of a segmented municipal level, investing in public transit to curb sprawl and revitalize inner city areas, tweaking public housing and spreading it to more areas to avoid public housing becoming a trap that the impoverished cannot escape from.

But the federal government can only assist so much. It's up to urban planning and policy nerds to work out the details. Anyone care to post suggestions as a comment?

- David

Great Books for Planners: List #6

2009-07-22T17:59:00.005-04:00

So I've returned to Jacksonville after a very relaxing trip with the love of my life, and I had a wonderful time. Now that I'm back, the blog will be updated regularly once again. To start off, I'll post a short list of recommended urban planning books from the American Planning Association (APA) that I received quite a few days ago. People with an interest in urban design will find these recommendations particularly helpful.

True Urbanism: Living In and Near the Center by Mark Hinshaw (2007): this is a great book that argues in favor of people living in densely populated areas based on the positive effects that it can potentially have on social capital, care for the elderly, raising children in a culturally exposed and tolerant environment, and many other factors. This book was also chosen as the APA's Book of the Month in April of 2007.

Redesigning Cities by Jonathan Barnett (2008): another great book that focuses on reshaping suburban growth patterns, revitalizing older inner cities, and correcting planning mistakes of the past by utilizing many materials, methods and technologies that many planners currently overlook.

Fundamentals of Urban Design by Richard Hedman (1985): a very helpful introductory book to the basics of urban design which uses illustrations to aid the learning process for students new to urban design.

Urban Planning and Politics by William Johnson (1997): this book highlights the roles of several different groups of people, such as private citizens, public officials, business people, and not-for-profit institutions in the planning process. An excellent introduction to urban planning with a focus on the design of the urban environment as well as the influence of local politics.

Planning and Urban Design Standards, edited by the American Planning Association (2006): this is basically the Bible for planners and urban designers. It does not take sides in any controversial topics of the day, it merely serves as a very comprehensive reference guide for almost all aspects of urban planning and design. Definitely a good one to have.

Making Places Special by Gene Bunnell (2002): an inspiring book for aspiring planners that points out the long-term effects of successful urban plans and puts up an argument against critics who base the value of a plan on immediate results. This book describes how planning helped to weave local geography, history, economy and society into a distinctive community fabric.

- David

International Planning: Second US-Arab Cities Forum

2009-07-18T03:58:00.003-04:00

There was a post a while ago about how this forum between American mayors and mayors from Arab nations was coming up. Well, I just found an article detailing information on the forum and I thought I would do a follow-up post on the subject.

Like I mentioned in the previous post, the forum took place in Amman, Jordan this year, and this is the second such forum to have ever been held. The first US-Arab Cities Forum took place in Chicago and was organized by Mayor Richard Daley. The forum took place from June 22 - 24.

A general overview of the topics discussed during the forum would include city management, urban development and planning, public transport, youth and city programs, and economic development/investment.

Youth programs and planning for youth in the urban environment took up a goodly amount of time at the forum. Many speakers such as the President of the Child Protection Initiative, an Executive Director of Social Services and the Head of the Adolescence Project of UNICEF-Jordan discussed the importance of planning for youth in our cities around the world.

A representative from the World Bank also joined in for a discussion on financing loans for the sustainable development of cities. Economic development and investment was discussed in other segments of the forum as well.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Dubai Municipality and the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) was signed at the end of this year's US-Arab Cities Forum. Hopefully, a greater level of understanding was reached between mayors managing cities on opposite sides of the oceans as well.

Thanks for reading.

- David

Glenn Beck and His Contribution to Broadcasting

2009-07-16T19:14:00.004-04:00

Hello again everyone, I'm still out of state and I will be until the 21st now, but I had to share this wonderful segment from Glenn Beck's radio show. The topic is health care in America, what with the new health care bill going through Congress. I think you'll find it quite amusing.

- David

Planning Today: Transportation Stimulus Spent on Highway Repairs

2009-07-09T01:25:00.004-04:00

According to a study of state reports conducted by a city planning coalition, Smart Growth America, state governments are spending the majority of federal stimulus money designated for transportation purposes on highway repairs.

About 62.9 percent has gone toward highway repairs. However, about 31.3 percent (roughly $6.69 billion) is being put toward building new highways. The coalition's president, Geoff Anderson, said the following about the 31.3 percent of stimulus money being spent on new highways:

"Given our huge road and bridge repair backlog and inadequate public transportation system, $6.6 billion for new highway capacity just doesn't make sense. It's like adding a new wing to your house when the roof is falling in."

Some states, such as North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Connecticut share Anderson's opinion on highway repair versus new construction and are spending 100 percent of their transportation stimulus money on highway repairs. Other states, such as Kentucky, seem to be the states that Anderson is talking about. The Kentucky state government is spending 86 percent of their transportation stimulus money on building new roads.

According to a study by the University of Utah's Metropolitan Research Center, road repairs also create 16 percent more jobs than road construction. However, another finding in this same study is that public transportation projects create 31 percent more jobs than road construction, which is especially helpful during an economic crisis like the one we are currently experiencing.

Despite this, state governments have been spending very few of their transportation stimulus dollars on public transportation projects. The state that is spending the greatest portion of its transportation stimulus money on public transportation projects is Delaware, and that portion is still only 16 percent.

If states ever had a chance to cut back on suburban sprawl and revitalize their economies by investing in innovative public transportation solutions, it would have been now. But it looks like that chance is being thrown away.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. - I will be returning to Jacksonville by the evening of July 16th (about a week), and by then posting will become regular again.

- David

Vacation Time

2009-07-05T23:35:00.002-04:00

I'm going to be out of the state for a couple weeks, so I won't have constant access to the internet and posting may become slightly irregular until I return to Jacksonville.

Until I write again, everyone interested in transportation planning can take a moment to consider the recent monorail accident at Disney.

- David

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T13:34:00.002-04:00

Sorry I wasn't able to post at all yesterday. I spent the day in several different airports and am too cheap to pay for internet.

I hope that everyone has an enjoyable 4th of July, and we can all celebrate Sarah Palin's resignation! Hopefully she doesn't use the time to try and become a celebrity for the Presidential election in 2012. We will see.

Happy 4th!

- David

Transportation Planning

2009-07-02T10:47:00.004-04:00

Transportation planning is one of several important specializations in the planning field. A transportation planner deals specifically with how to best move people and goods from one place to another.

This is a very interesting focus because it cuts across many other aspects of urban planning as well. Decisions in transportation planning can have an impact on poverty rates in the area, environmental aspects such as levels of pollution, and the microeconomy of the city or region.

Transportation planners also usually have the privilege and the responsibility of constructing the skeleton of a city before other planners come in and flesh it out. Think about how the construction of a new highway stimulates development nearby. Also, if you wanted to go way back and look at this on a macro level, think about how the newly implemented highway system stimulated suburban sprawl.

Many transportation planners are employed at the regional or county level. Many regional councils and metropolitan planning authorities handle transportation due to the benefits that come with a widened scope. Knowledge pertaining to sources of traffic and commuter routes often requires looking beyond a single municipality.

Plus, if transportation planning was handled on the municipal level, there would be room for a lot of inefficiencies and wasteful spending. Imagine two municipalities adjacent to one another connected by a common road. Now imagine that road starts to become congested for one reason or another. The planning department from each municipality is going to put alleviating traffic congestion on this road near the top of their list of priorities. The result? Two newly constructed competing expressways that end in different places on their common border. To avoid this result, either one of the municipalities would have to cover the cost alone, or the cities could work together. And if they're going to have to work together to make cost-efficient decisions anyway, why not cut some bureaucracy and start the process off at a regional level?

Due to the high cost associated with most transportation infrastructure projects, good transportation planning is dependent upon an ability to effectively set priorities. Though a new highway cutting across the urban fringe might get you some barbecue invitations from suburban developers, this is probably not the most fiscally responsible option if you still have areas with high poverty rates being underserved by mass transit systems.

Don't forget that every planning decision has social implications. Think ahead about the people hurt and helped by any plan before you act.

- David

International Planning: Ambition in India to Lower Poverty

2009-07-01T12:50:00.005-04:00

Kumari Selja, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, just released her Ministry's 100-day plan, and it's an ambitious one. Selja aims to take the first steps towards creating a slum-free India in as little as five years.

The plan has several very good components to it, but one of the most important components is that this plan recognizes the poor urban population's need for property rights. In the next 100 days, the Ministry plans to develop a legal framework to give property rights to the urban poor. States that then implement this legal framework will be financially supported by the Indian federal government for their efforts. Along with property rights, these states will also provide federally-supported amenities such as water supply, sewage systems, drainage, roads, street lighting and social infrastructure facilities.

Another major component is that a model bill is going to be formulated within the first 100 days regarding the regulation of the real estate industry in order to ensure that affordable housing efforts are not able to be destroyed by powerful companies in the private sector. The plan also vaguely mentions that the Ministry will promote a housing micro finance company, which would be great. It will be interesting to see just how much they promote such a company, and in what ways.

The plan also says that the Ministry will create a skill development program for the urban poor in order to give them better access to wage labor and a greater chance for success in self-employment. The goal of the program would be 2 lakhs (a lakh is 100,000 people) every year for the next five years.

The Ministry also plans to support State and City Resource Centres in any city with a population of 1 lakh or more. These centres will provide resources such as employment-related information, market assessment, skill development, training, placement, etc. in order to help reduce urban poverty in India.

One last component to the 100-day plan that I will mention is the implementation of an independent social audit system to ensure that the beneficiaries of these poverty alleviation programs are indeed the urban poor, and that money isn't finding its way elsewhere thanks to corruption. A manual on these social audits will also be created and circulated to the states so that they may keep an extra eye on each other as well.

This plan is a very big step forward for India not only for recognizing the relationship between urban planning and poverty, but for doing something about it. I've extracted two quotes from the 100-day plan that I think best represent this movement.

"Master plans have led to exclusion of the poor from the city development process and driven them to precarious and illegal settlements. The Ministry will support an Inclusive City Campaign involving all stakeholders to alter the existing city planning model and prepare 'inclusive' Master Plans/City Development Plans that adequately address the concerns of the urban poor for affordable housing and informal sector activities which engage most of the urban poor."

"[This model] will cover the provision of security of tenure to the urban poor and also make land available for affordable housing, basic amenities and informal sector activities of the poor through the process of urban planning."

Hopefully implementation of this new plan goes smoothly.

Thanks for reading.

- David

International Planning: Jerusalem Publishes First Master Plan in 42 Years

2009-06-29T19:18:00.005-04:00

According to an article in the Huffington Post, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat put forward a master plan for the city early last month called Jerusalem 2020. No city plans have been drafted for Jerusalem since 1967, when the city annexed (without international recognition) about 20 Palestinian villages which became East Jerusalem under Israeli rule. Many Palestinians consider East Jerusalem to be their capital city.

Before going into details about the plan, it's helpful to know a little of the recent history behind East Jerusalem. Immediately after the previously mentioned annexation, the Israeli government in Jerusalem began to "expropriate" land, which refers to the confiscation of land for the purpose of social equality. However, Israel's version of expropriation included confiscating land from Arab land owners and giving it to Jewish developers to build Jewish communities in key locations to split up Arab communities into small and separated areas.

After many Palestinian residents had their land confiscated, the Israeli government in Jerusalem froze all planning procedures and land registration processes in East Jerusalem. They then allocated only 14 percent of the land that they annexed for residential construction, gave the Israel Lands Administration the power to distribute required permits for construction, and made any other residential building constructed illegal.

The problem is, East Jerusalem is growing fast, the Israel Lands Administration very seldom gives out any permits, and most of the 14 percent of the Palestinians' own land that was given back to them is already built up and can't legally surpass Israeli density regulations. So, this obviously led to a lot of illegal (according to Israel) residential structures being built, which have been bulldozed time and time again by the Israeli government in Jerusalem. This practice of bulldozing residential structures that Israel considers illegal has been met with harsh criticism from the Palestinian, as well as the international community (especially Hillary Clinton recently in her position as Secretary of State).

And people wonder why Hamas is so powerful. Imagine the Israeli government declares that it all of a sudden owns your land, and bulldozes your house every time you try and rebuild it to shelter your family "illegally" because the government that just declared that it owns your land won't give you a permit to build on it. Policies like this are fueling increased membership in radical and violent organizations.

Now this brings us to the master plan that was just announced last month by Mayor Barkat. The plan was advertised to Palestinian residents living in East Jerusalem as a plan that boosts their housing opportunities. I guess Barkat was hoping that no one would actually read the plan.

Barkat made a point to advertise the fact that there are 13,550 new apartments for Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem included in his master plan, Jerusalem 2020. What Barkat did not mention is that the plan also includes a reiteration of their intent to continue bulldozing Palestinian housing that they deem illegal. The international community (mainly Hillary Clinton) has recently pressured Barkat to release a statement today that he would freeze plans to bulldoze 70 percent of the housing in East Jerusalem, but he still considers the homes to be illegal.

Another thing he forgot to mention is that also according to the plan, the construction of the 13,550 new apartments would not even be approved to start until the year 2030, and that would only be 70 percent of the apartments.

So if any of you are counting down the days on your Mayan calendars, that means the world will have ended 18 years before Jerusalem starts to build housing for its Palestinian people. Gee, I wonder if there's any chance of the master plan being modified before 2030.

- David

International Planning: The Costs of Climate Change

2009-06-28T19:26:00.006-04:00

With scientific reports detailing threats of climate change more and more clearly, urban planners have to start taking into account the effects that climate change will have on cities and their populations. But who should have to deal with the problem of climate change? Right now it looks like lesser developed countries that are contributing the least to climate change are being left on their own to pick up a lot of costs just to protect their people.

A book titled "Adapting Cities to Climate Change" came out last month, and it points out several things that governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America can do on the local level to mitigate the effects of climate change. One city that the book discusses as an example is Mombasa, Kenya.

Mombasa is home to about 800,000 people and is a major tourist destination in Kenya, as well as a major port city for surrounding areas. According to Mr. Khalid Salim, head of public relations and corporate affairs at the Kenya Tourist Board (KTB), roughly 65 percent of tourists visiting Kenya go to the coast. Mombasa currently serves as a major port for not only Kenya, but for parts of Uganda, Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Southern Sudan as well.

According to the scientists who wrote the Kenya section of the book, a 0.3 meter rise in sea level will leave 17 percent of Mombasa, which is 4,600 hectares or roughly 11,367 acres, underwater. The rise in sea level will also have a negative impact on local Kenyans who aren't living in flooded areas due to salt stress making many farmlands unsuitable for agriculture, a loss of commercial activity previously stimulated by the port, and a sharp reduction in city income from tourism.

This is backed up by the Kenya Meteorological Department, which stated that dramatic changes such as these can be expected in Mombasa in the next 20 years.

So, to try and mitigate some of the effects of climate change, many hotels on the coast have begun building walls to deal with the problem of waves reaching higher than they ever have before. Also, the city council and the urban planning department of the ministry of local government is developing a master plan to improve the city's drainage system, which until recently was in a state of disrepair.

Scientists who wrote the Kenya section of the book point out the weakness of the city's urban planning department and the inability or unwillingness of the city to enforce physical planning by-laws when discussing Mombasa's flawed infrastructure. Without enforcement of physical planning by-laws, many illegal structures were developed, access roads were blocked, and city drainage pipes were clogged.

According to Mombasa's town clerk, the drainage pipes have recently been cleared, but the city does not have a budget to implement climate change measures that the urban planning department may come up with. The town clerk said that the Kenyan national government should come up with and fund a plan to mitigate the effects of climate change, and that it should then be implemented in partnership with local governments.

I have to say I agree with that nameless enigma of a town clerk. If mitigating the effects of climate change is completely left up to cities, then cities with high amounts of poverty and a proportionately lower tax base will be less capable of funding necessary measures to protect people and their property, leaving the poor with flooded property and the rich high and dry.

But the Kenyan national government isn't exactly swimming in cash either. Perhaps some of the developed countries who spent decades upon decades polluting until the world reached this point should lend a hand with the expense, and we could even slow down or stop this process without having to rely entirely on urban planning and mitigation techniques. Oh, and please without any excuses from Americans about how India and China just passed us up as polluters, as if that somehow erases everything we ever emitted.

Just a thought. Now for my anti-FBI-watchlist disclaimer: I love America.

Thanks for reading.

- David

People in Planning: Mitchell Joachim

2009-06-27T16:58:00.010-04:00

Mitchell Joachim has put forward many different thought-provoking ideas, especially within the urban design aspect of urban planning. He earned a Ph.D. from MIT studying urban design, and you can check out his website here.

Most of Mitchell Joachim's ideas have been based around the idea of creating more sustainable urban environments, and I'll write briefly about some of the ideas that I found most interesting here. If you want to know more, then I strongly encourage you to visit the website.

One of these ideas is Fab Tree Hab, which uses Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) reusable scaffolding to basically guide exactly how a tree grows. The trunk of the tree forms the main structural frame, and smaller branches woven together through use of a pleaching technique support a clay and straw-based infill. Every aspect of the home is designed to be extremely resource and energy efficient and sometimes even self-sustaining without having negative impacts on the surrounding environment.

Another one of these ideas is a concept for a Sustainable Omni Flow Transport (SOFT) car. SOFT cars would literally be soft to avoid people ever being hurt in an accident again, and they would be environmentally friendly. I've included a picture of the concept of stackable cars at an urban solar recharge port.

One last idea that I found particularly fascinating was the idea of soft floating micro-island gyms that would double as ferries across bodies of water. Energy which is usually wasted would be generated through peoples' use of the gym facilities, and this would be converted to electric energy that would be stored in on-board batteries that would propel the gym across bodies of water within an urban environment, such as the Hudson River in New York. Some of the larger gyms would be able to carry extra passengers on them as well, and as an added benefit, people using the gym get to watch something more interesting than a muted television or a mirror.

What happens if everyone gets tired halfway across the river and the battery wasn't charged beforehand? Well, aren't you the pessimist? I guess another floating gym would just have to push you to shore.

Mitchell Joachim was also on the Colbert Report last month, so you should probably check out that interview as well. Hope you all enjoyed this little glimpse into our urban future.

- David

Great Books for Planners: List #5

2009-06-26T22:06:00.006-04:00

Hey everyone, here's another list of recommended books. People who are interested in land use development and zoning with an emphasis on property rights are the most likely to find these books interesting.

The Economics of Zoning Laws: A Property Rights Approach to American Land Use Controls by William Fischel (1985): a book that may have given pro-sprawl advocates some fuel for their argument by pushing the notion that land is unlimited. This book might be even more interesting to read for people who disagree.
The Gridlock Economy: How Too Much Ownership Wrecks Markets, Stops Innovation, and Costs Lives by Michael Heller (2008): a very interesting book that focuses on the tragedy of the commons and problems such as why sufficient runways aren't being built in our cities.
Smarter Growth: Market-Based Strategies for Land-Use Planning in the 21st Century by Randall Holcombe and Samuel Staley (2001): this book has a very misleading name, mainly due to the fact that it self-proclaims its strategies "smarter." It's basically a book against smart growth techniques to control sprawl, but many pro-sprawl advocates will probably pull quotes from books like this, so it's a useful read if you're the confrontational type.
Zoning and Property Rights by Robert Nelson (1977): this book sounds pretty straight-forward, but you should know beforehand that the author also wrote A Burning Issue: A Case for Abolishing the U.S. Forest Service before getting an overly objective image in your head.

- David

Poverty, Planning & Politics

New Forum is Live!

Obama Administration Released their "Opening Doors" Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness

Call For Outrageous Criminalization of Homelessness Stories

Food for Donations at New Panera Bread

Enterprise Green Communities

Discretionary Authority of Local Governments

Planning Today: NYC Offers Homeless Families a Way Out

Planning Today: Atlanta Jumps the Gun on Demolition

Planning Today: Public Spaces in the City

Thank You for Your Contributions

People in Planning: Daniel Burnham

President Obama Talks About Urban Policy

Great Books for Planners: List #6

International Planning: Second US-Arab Cities Forum

Glenn Beck and His Contribution to Broadcasting

Planning Today: Transportation Stimulus Spent on Highway Repairs

Vacation Time

Happy 4th!

Transportation Planning

International Planning: Ambition in India to Lower Poverty

Top Ten Videos on Poverty from Change.org

International Planning: Jerusalem Publishes First Master Plan in 42 Years

International Planning: The Costs of Climate Change

People in Planning: Mitchell Joachim

Great Books for Planners: List #5